Working from home is meant to help you reduce stress and time spent working. But the reality can be very different
Flexible working hours, remote working and telecommuting are all designed to help people create a better work/life balance. But a new study says that often the opposite can be true.
The US study by the Universities of Iowa and Texas found that people working from home actually work longer hours but for little extra pay.
The study, based on a long-running survey conducted by the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, found that workers who opt to work part-time from home during a regular week worked three hours more per week without claiming (or being offered) overtime pay.
This was partly down to those working from home feeling the pressure to be more productive than their office-based colleagues.
Here are a few tips on making sure you don’t push yourself too far when working from home…
Set a timetable…
Agree set working hours with your line manager before you start working from home. This will help you to structure your day and know when to start and stop. And don’t be tempted to work over these hours unless you really need to. If you do, let your manager know.
Create an office space…
A good way to prevent yourself from working too many hours is to create an office space. This helps increase the divide between work life and home life.
Once you’re done for the day, shut down everything and leave the office, closing – or even locking – the door behind you. You could even leave the house for a walk.
Set daily goals…
Agree with your office and line managers goals you need to hit. This could be completing a piece of work, or hitting certain targets.
By having clear goals you’ll know how much work you need to do and then you can plan your days and weeks so you can complete it all without having to work over time.
Report in…
Make sure you report in regularly. This can mean a call or email in the morning to say when you’re online and another at the end of the day to log off.
Get involved in any conference calls and if you have a question, call someone in the office. All this shows that you’re working hard from home and are being productive.
Posted by The Secret Businessman